There are now some 640 000 Syrians registered as refugees
in Jordan and a similar number are unregistered; around 1 070 000
registered Syrian refugees and some 400 000 others in Lebanon; and
2 620 000 Syrian refugees in Turkey. None of these countries recognises
Syrians as refugees under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status
of Refugees, although they are in principle protected from refoulement, and there have been
problems of access to protection in all three. Syrian refugees face
problems of housing, food shortages, lack of work permits (in Jordan
and Lebanon), poverty and debt, and inadequate access to health
care and education; women and children are at risk of particular
forms of abuse. Palestinian refugees from Syria have been especially
badly affected. The host societies are also under extreme social,
political and economic strain. It is unlikely that a mass return
of Syrian refugees will be possible even in the medium term.

The European response to the crisis must be based on certain
clear principles. Welcoming recent international initiatives, the
Parliamentary Assembly should call on European States, the European
Union and the wider international community to do more, including
through humanitarian pathways for admission of refugees, prioritising
the most vulnerable and facilitating family reunification, if current
efforts prove inadequate. It should also call for a generous response
to UNRWA’s emergency appeal.